World Wildlife Fund Hotel Kitchen Program offers Guidance on how to reduce, recycle and repurpose throughout the event food chain Why would the World Wildlife Fund, get involved in what happens in hotel kitchens? After all, WWF is all about protecting species and habitats and natural resources conservation, not bagels, brioche, and breakfast buffets. But when you consider that World Wildlife Fund also aims to transform markets and policies to reduce the impact of the production and consumption of commodities, it starts to make sense. In the U.S. alone, we waste or lose 30% to 40% of all the food…

Exciting News! I’ve just become a Meatless Monday Ambassador! Meatless Monday is a global movement that asks people to give up meat for one day a week. By becoming an ambassador, I will work to encourage fellow meeting and event planners to think about meatless food options. Here’s why the movement is important to me: Pro-Environment Reducing our carbon footprint and practicing sustainable food practices is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. Did you know that global livestock production creates more greenhouse gases than all the cars, trucks, planes, and trains in the world? By reducing…

There is growing attention being paid to food waste, which is wonderful. I'll be speaking at IMEX next week and while you can catch me at a few sessions, Wasting Away will be a session on food waste and our bottom line on October 18th. As a prompt to help us celebrate the no waste movement, let's all take part in World Food Day this Sunday, October 16th. You can read a general article I've written on why the day exists and how we can integrate more awareness into our daily lives. Below is a beautiful guest post by James Spellos.…

With Europe making leaps and bounds in the food waste policy conversation, it make it seem like America is being left in the dust. We’re not where many other countries are, but we do have our strengths and are making our own strides. Today marks the last day of #FoodWasteWeek and I just wanted to share a few notes and scribbles I find inspiring on the food waste topic. Companies, cities, and entire countries are choosing to donate rather than throw it away. France, among other countries such as Denmark and Italy, has made it legally difficult to throw away…

Seafood is one of the most important foods to consider when designing a sustainable menu. There is a big focus on eating local and on the comparative carbon footprint of beef, lamb, and chicken. But between overfishing, the evolving health of our oceans, and our understanding of how farm fishing and wild caught affects surrounding eco-systems, we begin to grasp that understanding sustainable seafood is a complex undertaking. Without diving into big explanations and long-winded descriptions, let’s assume you already care about supporting sustainable eating and seafood is included. Here are just a few must-know items to help you make…

Sustainability has become a big aspect of almost any industry and in the meetings industry sustainability has become crucial to maintaining our social and environmental responsibility. While we often hear farmers producing sustainable crops or even sustainable livestock, our kitchens also need to take stock in their environmental impact as well to ensure a better quality and in-demand products. Just as Climatarians make specific changes in their diet to minimize their carbon footprint, we need to make changes, industry-wide, to do our best to minimize and diminish unsustainable practices across the supply chain and in the kitchen. Whether we seek a…